Excessive licking after surgery

Hi guys...I've read a lot of the archives on the subject (I saw that most of these posts are immediately directed to the archives) but none of them seem to be quite relevant to the problem I am having with my cat.

He is almost 4 years old and was hit by a car at the beginning of October. He had a rare injury and had to have his tail completely removed. He had an e-collar on for several weeks and when we took it off he started licking the area where the scabs were. Since then, those areas have become rough and patchy from excessive itching. I bought something called OxyMed - which is supposed to help relieve itchy "hot spots" and deter licking, but it seems to have gotten worse.

I am certain that this isn't an allergy - the area was itchy b/c of hair growing back (it was shaved for the surgery) and the scab and is now still itchy because he is licking it. Now, I have him wearing the e-collar in combination with putting the itch relief spray on the area.

He has also been wetting the bed at night - we think it is because of stress because of the surgery, many vet visits, making him wear the e-collar, spraying the lotion on his rump, etc. We want to help his hair grow back and prevent him from licking in the meantime, but also minimize added stress.

Does anyone have any advice for other things we could do to help him?

(Other info: he was temporarily incontinent because some of his spinal chord was pulled out/pulled b/c his tail was dislocated very high up and dragging. He has since regained his incontinence for the most part, but we think he also might be stressed out with how many bathroom trips he has to take to relieve himself.)

so sorry to read abt your poor kitty....that immediately sounded to me like there was nerve damage d/t the surgery/injury. than I found a site that explained some of what has happened to your kitty so I will send it to you...I would stop whatever you are putting on the tail I don't think the licking is due to being itchy..its more to nerve pain and perhaps some medication meant for this would help more...the ointment you are using may not be meant for ingestion and isn't helping the issue.
you need to talk to the Vet who performed the surgery or preferably one that deals in neurology. good luck, keep us posted, I'll see if I can find more info for you too..

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